


A Comforting Presence

by Kyarorain



Category: AI: The Somnium Files (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-29
Updated: 2019-10-29
Packaged: 2021-01-07 22:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21225260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kyarorain/pseuds/Kyarorain
Summary: Aiba comes to Mizuki's aid in the night.





	A Comforting Presence

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Fictober prompt "Dizzy".
> 
> There's some scary stuff at the start with a bit of gore, nothing worse than what is seen in the game.

The air was filled with cheerful music and the joyful sounds of children enjoying themselves. Mizuki held on tight as she sat astride a horse on the merry go round, revelling in the gentle up and down motion. The scenery spun around her, round and round in an endless loop. She looked out toward the crowd of people clustered around the ride and caught sight of the smiling faces of her parents. When they caught her eye, they both waved at her. Mizuki smiled in delight and waved back at them, just before they were out of sight.

As the horse returned to the same spot, she sought out her parents. At the sight of them, her veins turned to ice.

Gone were their smiles, replaced by silent screams. Rivers of red ran free, gushing from the hollows that were their left eye sockets. An ice pick thrust out of the hole where her mother's missing eye had once been. A horrified cry burst from Mizuki's throat. She immediately felt a desire to disembark from the horse, only to realise the scenery was moving at a faster rate than before.

"No... no! Please, stop this ride!" Mizuki screamed.

In response, the ride picked up speed. The scenery was whipping around her at an alarming speed now. Mizuki closed her eyes against the dizzy sensation that took hold of her. The knuckles of her hands whitened as she wrapped her fingers tighter around the pole. 

"Hey, kid, do you want to see some fireworks?"

The voice sent a spike of fear through her. Mizuki turned her head and cracked an eye open. There he sat on the opposite horse, watching her with wide eyes, the irises shrunk down so that they looked big and white. His head rocked back and forth as he continued to look at her with a manic grin.

"No!" Mizuki turned her head and noticed the changes in the ride. The children were gone. Date and Hitomi were right in front of her, slumped forward on the horses bearing them. She was about to call out their names but something stopped her. With jerky movements, they lurched into sitting positions, heads rotating on their necks. Pale and milky right eyes stared back at her, set beside empty holes.

With a whimper, Mizuki tore her eyes away. Against her will, defying the internal screams in her mind, her head and body were turning around. 

"Iris...! Ota...!" 

Two limp bodies bobbing up and down. Two left eyes gone. Two horses painted red.

Saito's maniacal laughter rang in her ears. "Oh, isn't it a beautiful sight? You should have heard the screams they made when I killed them! It felt so good to reach into their eye sockets and just rip their eyes out!" He laughed again.

"You monster!" Mizuki howled, her expression twisting with rage. "How could you kill my friends! And Date, and Iris's mom too!"

"Mizuki. Mizuki!"

"It's not over yet, kid." Saito leaned over, his face coming impossibly close to hers. "There's still one more." He brought one hand to her face-

"Mizuki, wake up!"

Something soft was prodding her cheek. The scenery around her dissolved and she found herself back in reality, her head resting against her pillow as she lay in bed.

"Mmmph." Mizuki stirred, her brow creasing. "Date, stop poking me."

"Sorry, but I am not Date."

Mizuki opened her eyes to a dark room. It was so quiet that she could hear Date's steady breathing as he lay on the sofa. That sound was briefly joined by the faint sound of a car passing by. Peering through the gloom, she could just barely make out the shapes of furniture. A small sigh of relief passed through her lips. This was home. She was safe and sound in bed.

As for what had been poking her cheek, she already had a good guess.

"Aiba?" Mizuki whispered, turning her head. She searched with a hand, her fingers closing around something small and firm. It was rubbery to the touch. "What is this?"

"This is my body. I heard your sounds of distress and came over to wake you. Now that you know about me, I saw no need to get Date up. How are you feeling, Mizuki?"

"Uh, I'm okay. I was just having a really bad dream. Saito was in it, and he had killed everyone and then he was about to take my eye."

"I see. That does sound like an unpleasant dream. Fortunately, Saito Sejima is dead. He can't hurt anyone anymore."

"I know. I was there. You blew his head off." Mizuki rubbed her fingers around Aiba's form, lightly prodding at her. She wondered just what this body was supposed to be made of, but that was probably an explanation to be saved for another time. "Date was really sad after you were gone."

"He was?"

"Yeah. He tried not to show it too much, but it was obvious. Date seems much happier now you're back. I'm glad. Date may be annoying sometimes, but I don't really like to see him unhappy." Mizuki sat up, placing Aiba onto her shoulder. "I'm going to get a glass of water."

While Mizuki sipped her water, she continued to make conversation. "It was nice to finally get to meet you, Aiba."

"Likewise. I always wondered when Date would finally get around to telling you. I never thought it would take me destroying myself to do so."

Mizuki pursed her lips. "Stupid Date. He didn't have to hide it. He could have just told me. How long were you with him again?"

"Five years."

"Oh, yeah." Mizuki was silent for a moment. "So you were already with him when I moved in here."

"Correct. I know you very well, more than you might realise."

"Right. You saw everything, didn't you?"

"Indeed, I am his left eye after all. I remember when you first moved in here. You used to have bad dreams at first back then. Sometimes I had to wake Date up myself so that he could do something."

"Really? Thanks." Mizuki thought back to those early days after moving in, recalling Date at her bedside, soothing her and speaking reassuring words until she was calm. She used to dream of her mother screaming and hitting her, her face twisted beyond recognition. Those dreams had faded away over time. Now it was her mother's corpse that showed in those occasional nightmares. She still remembered the sight of it so vividly. "So, you can just come out and walk around whenever you like?"

"That's right. At night, I like to pop out of Date's eye socket and have a little fun, when I'm not charging myself, that is. I had to be quiet though so that you wouldn't notice me. There was one time you woke up and thought you heard a rat. Date managed to cover it up, but he was quite annoyed with me afterwards."

"Oh, I think I remember. So that was you, huh?" Mizuki made an amused sound. "Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore."

"No, I suppose not. I'll just warn you in advance, you may see me pop out of Date's eye socket sometime so try not to be too alarmed when it happens."

"Thanks for the warning." Mizuki returned to bed and crawled back beneath the cover. "I'm going back to sleep now. It was nice talking to you."

"If you wake up in the night again and want to talk, just let me know. I'll be around as long as Date is."

"Okay. Goodnight, Aiba."

"Goodnight, Mizuki. Sleep well."


End file.
